In many situations, it is important that pets on leashes be controlled by the person holding the leash. For example, if a dog owner is walking his/her dog and stops to talk with someone, he or she may need to bring the dog under greater control (e.g., if the dog gets unduly excited, if the person with whom he/she is talking has a small child, etc.). Conventional pet leashes leave much to be desired in terms of this greater level of control.
One kind of dog leash includes a first handle for allowing the fullest extent of the leash and a second handle to be grabbed in order to pull the dog closer. Such a dog leash poses multiple problems. First, in situations such as those mentioned above, the pet must be brought under greater control in an urgent manner. Grabbing for the second handle can be difficult, and accidentally missing the second handle can result in the pet causing harm. Second, with only one intermediate handle, there is only minimal flexibility in terms of how much control to exert—the dog can be free to use the full extent of the leash or he can be pulled to the intermediate distance. Moreover, adding additional handles to improve flexibility would result in a leash that is quite cumbersome to use.